Come on a morning ride in to work with Lauren as he tells us about her journey into cycling and how she now commutes on the same roads she used to race on!
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[Music] We used to race with the guys. I used to race with Tom Pigcott back in the day. Name drop. You just get to work feeling so happy. It’s like the endorphins running through you. I’d grown up riding and racing around Yorkshire, but I absolutely love riding around here now. [Music] My name is Lauren O’Brien and I’ve been a British cycling member for 20 years now. What have you been doing as a British social event for 20 years? We settled my membership such a long time ago because when I was younger, my parents just got us involved in so much stuff. Training sessions, a little white rose league that I believe is still going. I used to love that. We used to race with the guys. I used to race with um Tom Pigcott back in the day when he was like still doing like little laps around which um so yeah, we set it up a really long time ago when I was a youth. We did a lot of they’re called regional schools of racing RSRs for sure. They were across every discipline, track, roads, cycle, mountain bike, and it would be half a day, full day of just being coached in all aspects of racing. They’ve completely set the framework for everything I do now. When I was a junior, I got to race um the Credential Grand Prix in London and it was the circuit around Buckingham Palace racing around there for an hour with just the most incredible caliber of riders. There was Marina Boss there, uh Lucy Dyman. It was just the most insane experience to be racing with the likes of those absolute legends in the sport, but then to also just be racing on the Mau with all the crowds around you. And at that point, I’d have no idea that that would literally be my commute today. I’d grown up riding and racing around Yorkshire. So then moving to London, it was definitely a a different color of fish. It was it it took some getting used to. It was a bit scary at first. It was a bit daunting, but you get used to it so quickly. And I love I absolutely love riding around here now. I think at first it was a bit of a worry. Where am I going to ride? Where am I going to train? Like I’m racing. I’ve got to train. and I can’t rely on doing like the turbo every day. One of the amazing things about London is the parks. Like Richmond Park is my oasis. I’m there all the time training. It’s definitely not pushed me away from living in London. Like it’s not an obstacle for me now. The canoe is such a great excuse to just get an hour recovery ride in. I’ll go to like Regions Park, Richmond Park in the morning, like do a few laps and head into work. I feel very lucky that there are literally two like major train like training grounds like right in the city that I can utilize before I head into the office for the day. [Music] Without British Cycling, I can’t race. Without them, I can’t feel safe commuting. Like they are literally fundamental to my whole cycling career basically. When it comes to commuting, it definitely gives you that peace of mind. So, you know, the inevitable happens. Maybe it’s a car, maybe it’s another cyclist. You can get unlucky. That’s just the nature of the sport. And I think being a part of British cycling means that you just can go about your day, go about your commute without complete peace of mind. For anyone who wants to, yeah, get involved with wanting to start cycling to work. I’d say I understand that there might be some fear, especially in a city like London. I thought that initially. I I did not ever think I’d cycle to work. I didn’t even consider that an option, but it absolutely is an option. And there are so many tools out there to help you plan a safe route, but also to just feel confident on the roads. TFL have an amazing website, map, shows you every single cycle lane in London. At the end of the day, borers, councils, they want people cycling. Describe the feeling of riding your bike. Oh my gosh. I would not know like what I would who I would be, what I would be. Like it’s really hard to explain what like what it is. It’s it’s my hobby. It’s my relationship with my friends, my family, my partner. It’s my drive, but I won’t be as happy. I won’t be as, you know, feel as fulfilled. I know that for a fact.